Episode #132: Subtly Selling Yourself When Presenting

We have all been there. The speaker gets up to speak after they have had their resume read out by the MC or they do it themselves once they get started. Sometimes the MC makes a mess of it and other times they read out the content without any enthusiasm whatsoever. This is mainly because they are poor public speakers themselves. We should always supply our introduction to the event organisers. This is our personal brand here and we need to make sure we are being represented properly. It doesn’t always go according to plan though.

I hate it when the MC can’t be bothered reading out my carefully crafted, deeply thought through introduction for this audience, on this topic. They decide to abbreviate it or summarise it or wing it in their own words. Invariably this is a substandard product and does nothing to build the brand. I would rather they were incompetent speakers and read it exactly as I wrote it, than if they were extraordinary presenters who just ad-libbed their way through it. We want 100% control of how we are presented to the audience. The MC has zero idea of what we are trying to achieve in our personal branding efforts, so we cannot leave it to their whim on the day.

As the speaker, we should insist that the MC follow our script to the letter. We should instruct the organisers that this is a requirement, because often the organisers and the MC are not the same person. Their job is to tell the MC to toe the line and not stray from the script. In this regard, the organisers will have more influence over the MC than we will have. Nevertheless, we should not rely on the relay of instructions logistics between the organisers and the MC. On the day, we need to speak to the MC directly. Have no hesitation in telling them, “Please read my introduction precisely as I have crafted it, as this is how I wish to represent my personal brand”. This may seem a bit presumptuous, bolshie and pushy but this is your brand. You need to protect it from anarchists, idiots, dilettantes and do gooders.

In the vast majority of cases for business presentations, the organisers have invited us to be fonts of wisdom and impart pertinent insights, deep analysis, and sterling advice to the audience. What they don’t want is blatant self promotion and selling our stuff from the platform. If we break this rule, we won’t be invited back and our reputation will suffer. We also look crass, grasping and opportunist to the audience.

So how do we sell ourselves, when we have that captive audience of possible prospects right there in front of us? Obviously, we are not going to run through the typical laundry list of when our firm started, what our company does, with the usual boring facts, that are immediately forgotten by everyone. Our first step is to get there early, check the venue, the equipment, the arrangements and stiff the MC on their role in contributing to our glorious career. We make sure they know they need to follow the script on introducing us and that they can forget any independent adventurism. As the audience wanders in we start working the room. “Thank you for coming. I am today’s speaker. May I ask what attracted your attention about this topic?”. We engage in some small talk, exchange business cards for follow up later and filter and fillet the participants, to see if there are any potential buyers in the room. If you have other team members with you, they can do the same with the people you may not be able to meet. This way, you have the followup option in play for after the presentation. We need to do this because these days, the organisers are reluctant to share the list of participants, because they are worried about privacy issues.

The second step is to position what you say in a way that represents value to the audience. It gives them useful information on the “what” and the “why” but not too much detail on the “how”. The how bit is what they need to pay you for, once they engage your company. This is a tricky balance between providing substantial value, without providing too many tools for the audience to do it by themselves without you.

We can use a case study formula of (1) client problem, (2) solution and (3) result to show what we do works. In the problem and result part, we can be quite detailed. We are looking for people to identify with the issue, because they have the same one and to impress them with the result, because they want that too. The how part can be described in less detail. For example, “We worked with ABC company to uncover the changes which needed to be made. We did this through using our brainstorming methodology. The beauty of this method is that it works really well in Japan. It eliminates all hierarchy of age, stage, position, rank and delves deep by engaging the quick thinkers, as well as the deeper thinkers. It produces practical, implementable ideas very fast”. In this example, we have outlined how great the method is, without revealing the mechanics of how it works in practice.

The third area for emphasis is when we have done original research. Our global CEO Joe Hart visited Japan in 2018 for the 55thAnniversary celebrations of Dale Carnegie Training in Japan. For his speech to the American Chamber of Commerce he was using original research created for that speech on “AI in the Workplace”. This is a good way of demonstrating that your firm is at the cutting edge and can provide relevant insight into key issues affecting companies in target industries. If you cannot produce original research, then curate the latest and greatest findings which may not be know to the audience. You didn’t make it, but it shows you are well informed and up to date on that subject.

The fourth option is referring to items which are highly complex or involved and mention you can’t go into details right now, but explain that you are happy to speak off line with anyone who has an issue or an interest. This is the lure in the water, set to make the fish bite. You show this shiny object and then take it away, so that the audience want to follow it. This gives you the chance to have people line up after the talk and exchange business cards to get more information. The real object of the speech is to be sitting in their office a few days later, talking in depth about their problems, to see if you have the solution.

We provide value first and foremost. This adds to our personal and company brand. We tease and tantalize the audience, rather than sate them with too much detail. The What and the Why are covered completely, but the How is kept in reserve for a conversation in their office after the event.